All About The Great River Race: The Course

Competing crews arrive, register and prepare their boats for the launch and of course the Race. Public announcements throughout.

12:45

MILLWALL DOCK SLIPWAY
LONDON DOCKLANDS

Our starter fires the maroon to start the first of the 300-odd entrants. Boats leave on a ‘slowest first, fastest last’ handicap basis, giving all crews an equal chance.

13:15

TOWER BRIDGE

Not long after passing Canary Wharf, the unmistakable outline of Tower Bridge comes into sight. The Bridge is a great favourite with spectators who love to line the rails to watch the crews fighting for position as they approach.

13:30

WESTMINSTER BRIDGE

Tricky currents give crews, especially novices, a tough challenge as some fight to hold on to their handicap advantage, while others try to weave their way through. Great racing for the crowds as the competition hots up.

13:35

LAMBETH BRIDGE

The leading boats are now passing the Houses of Parliament and concentrating on the long haul upriver. Back at Millwall there are still more than one hundred boats yet to start.

13:50

BATTERSEA BRIDGE

Approaching the halfway point and the crews have now received maximum assistance from the incoming tide. The riverside promenades above and below the Bridge make excellent vantage
points.

14:00

WANDSWORTH BRIDGE

While the best crews in the slower boats are still leading the field, the more powerful crews in the faster craft are now showing their speed as they move through the field.

14:05

PUTNEY BRIDGE

While the head of the Race is now two thirds of the way home, the end of the fleet has just cleared central London.

14:20

HAMMERSMITH BRIDGE

Tricky currents around the Dove Pier just above the Bridge will test tiring crews and weary coxes.

14:50

CHISWICK BRIDGE

With around an hour to go, speculation mounts as to whether those low-handicap boats which have led the fleet for so long will be able to hold on to their advantage or be overwhelmed.

15:05

KEW BRIDGE

Now racing a against a semi-rural backdrop, the faster dragonboats, Waterman Cutters, Pilot Gigs and Celtic Longboats are beginning to show their superior pace and feature in the top twenty.

15:40

RICHMOND BRIDGE

Richmond's riverside spectators cheer on the crews as they pass through the Bridge. With 35 trophies up for grabs, crews must draw on their last reserves to vie for a winning spot.

15:45

RIVERSIDE BELOW HAM HOUSE, RICHMOND

Our Race winner crosses the line to a cannon broadside, rousing applause, and the prospect of receiving The Challenge Trophy of The Company of Watermen & Lightermen and becoming the UK Traditional Boat Champions in the process.

So that’s the course but there are still more than 300 finishers to come in over the next couple of hours, many of them to claim honours. Then it’s time to have a much-earned drink in the Great River Race marquee on the riverside below historic Ham House (once a hotbed of political intrigue during the Civil War), swap stories and listen to cries of “never again”.